I like to wash my coyotes with a little bit of Downy after fleshing. From there I squeeze as much of the water out by hand and roll up in a towel to dry off as much as possible. I will hang for a night then put on the stretcher the next day.

Wondering if anyone has suggestions on how best to dry a wet coyote after washing before drying so you can board immediately? Thanks for the replies.

What I use is the blowers made for drying show cattle. I have one for my 4h calves. I like them as their designed for use on hair and work awesome. Two minutes per side. Most ufa or similar farm stores have them.

I used to do mine by hand in a garbage can and would do the same as you. Towards the last receiving date it was a mad panic to get as many coyotes put up as possible. I did the same as you except I grabbed the pelt by the nose and snapped it several times to get as much water out as I could. I then boarded the pelt fur out and aimed an industrial fan at them for several hours until they dried out. Now I put them in a washing machine for a few minutes and they come out just a little damp after the spin cycle and are ready to board. Of course, this only works if you have electricity to your shed.

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“The whole problem with any issue is that fools and fanatics are always certain of their position, while wise people are full of doubt and questions.” Bertrand Russell

Thanks guys. I always wondered about the old foam wringers. The kind with two foam/rubber rollers that would squeeze the wet pelt as you turn a hand crank. By the sounds of it an old washing machine works best but I process fur in my garage and am somewhat limited to room, so was hoping for a "smaller" solution to an old washer.

Don't they tumble the pelts at the auction house? Never really saw the point in blow drying and combing them out perfect.

I don’t know what a pelt looks like after drumming but I doubt that it fluffs them up and takes out all the knots that much. If you do that stuff before sending in your fur then drumming won’t make it worse. Blowing forced air on them allows the hairs to untangle and makes the pelt thick and full. I’m too lazy and don’t have the time to hold a leaf blower to them so I put them in front of an industrial fan for a couple of days. Not much extra effort involved and with a quick combing/brushing, they are good to go.

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“The whole problem with any issue is that fools and fanatics are always certain of their position, while wise people are full of doubt and questions.” Bertrand Russell

I use a normal washing machine. Found 1 for free. A buddy was moving and didn't need it anymore. I put in max 3 coyotes bit of puppy shampoo (cheap Wal-Mart stuff) and put it on the 6min wash cycle then it turns to rinse and spin. After the spin cycle I hand them for 15 min by the nose then thier ready to board. Seldom do I need the spin cycle a second time. It works great.
I can't take credit some boys in black hats were using this method

Bill

Last edited by bill9044; 12-09-2017 at 08:06 AM.
Reason: Can't spell good

I do wash mine in just water. No soap and I don’t brush out burrs or pine sap, clots of blood etc. This type of brushing can do more damage and lower price of fur. I leave it and it will come out in the drumming.

Do comb your pelt up thoroughly. Very carefully remove all burs, stickers, matts, blood, muck, etc. If a comb won't go thru the hair, neither will the drumming media. If a comb goes thru, the drum can clean, meaning it might, it might not. If your fur has burrs in it, or other goods like blood cakes, realize it is not the graders job to guess or assume, in fact he is not to guess or assume. Hair full of burrs, expect a downgrade. Same with cak d blood. Once I seen a coyote in the bad damage grade that had a 3" blood matt, so I stuck my arm up the pelt to assess the damage, it had a .22 bucket hole and nobody washed the virtual perfect skin, went from $85 to $15... that year.

Drumming these days is performed at auction house with media +water, this puffs the hair but does not dress them up. They used to use chemical but no more.

A couple of years ago Ryan D in SK went to NAFA and posted a detailed account, complete with pictures, of the yote pelts that he observed after drumming. I was amazed by what he reported. Maybe he’ll chime in and share his thoughts.

Putting up your Yotes is the one thing that you can control and IMO sending in the best that you possibly can only makes sense. Just last week I found a big burr in a pelt after fleshing and washing it. I separated the hairs with my fingers and took the burr out. Wil it make a difference? I dunno, but for sure now that it’s gone it certainly won’t effect anything.

For sure washing your pelts cleans and whitens them and borax will whiten red belly. I don’t think that drumming will help with that. Will it effect the grade? My hopes are that it might influence the grader and hopefully it makes me a few extra bucks.

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“The whole problem with any issue is that fools and fanatics are always certain of their position, while wise people are full of doubt and questions.” Bertrand Russell

I agree with you Dave put up your fur to the best most presentable quality possible. Who trys selling a dirty car with coffee stains and road salt on it? Why would a filthy coyote be any different. I noticed a definite difference between Skinners and it came down to the washing. This year my coyotes are soft and nice feeling fur. Previously the fur came back from the Skinner a bit greasy not nice and soft. It was obvious which would be deemed better quality at a 30second glance and feel.